Ordnance



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' ORDNANCE.

` fx PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP AN. 11111 9. *Patented July 27 (I 2 sains-shin 2.

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Invefor.

@ZW @e UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMILE ALEXANDRE LOUIS BOURDELLES, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR T0 SOCIETEANONYME DES ETABLISSEMENTS DELAUNAY BELLEVILLE, 0F SCR-DENIS, SEINE,

FRANCE, A CORPORATION 0F FRANCE.

ORDNANCE.

Application led January 6, 1919.

To all whom t may Concern.'

Be it known that I, EMILE ALEXANDRE LoUis BoURDELLEs, citizen of theFrench Republic, residing at Paris, Department of the Seine, in France,and whose post-office address is 39 Rue Galile, in the said city, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in or Connected withOrdnance; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to ordnance in which springs or buffers absorbthe energy of recoil of a sliding barrel and which by their subsequentexpansion, return the barrel to the firing position.

Guns of the kind referred to are known in which part of the energy ofrecoil is absorbed by a brake and which are also provided with brakes orbuffers that deaden the shock of the return movement of the barrel when,in consequence of percussion failure, the forward movement of the barrelis not stopped by the discharge of the following shot.

rlhe present invention consists mainly in the provision of a recoilspring or springs concentric with the barrel, which, by theirdisposition and arrangement also serves as a shock-absorber in cases ofpercussion failure and likewise in cases of retarded firing; a specialrecoil brake only entering into connection with the barrel, when thelatter passes beyond the normal position of discharge of the shot, thebrake at such a moment rendering the barrel completely stationary untilthe discharge, when effected, returns the barrel, thc said brake thenoffering a supplementary resistance to the recoil of the sliding barrelin addition to the normal effort of the recoil spring, for the purposeof controlling the backward movement of the barrel in such a manner asto again position it for normal working, it being necessary in this caseto have greater braking power as the kinetic energy to be neutralized isgreater than in normal working.

The invention is described hereunder in detail, with reference to theaccompanying drawing, representing diagrammatically by Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1920.

serial No. 269,863.

way of example one constructional form of the improved devices and inwhich:

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section through the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a back view and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan showing the methodof actuating the striker.

In accordance with this invention, a barrel 1, sliding in a bearing ring2 and in a tube 3 is urged forward by one or more springs 4, bearing atone end on the muzzle 5 of the barrel through the medium of a movablering G and at the other end on the bearing ring 2, through the medium ofthe movable ring 7, as shown in the position of maximum recoil inFig. 1. The springs urge the barrel forwardv as soon as it is liberatedfrom its rearward position, in which it is held stationary by means of aball-brake arrangement 8, or other suitable locking means such, forinstance, as a rack and pawl device.

In normal firing, the striker is actuated by the passing of the finger 9over the disappearing stop 10, at a moment before the tenons 1l approachthe bearing ring 2. At that moment the barrel recoils toward the rear ata reduced speed by reason of the resistance offered by the springs 4.The stop 10 is mounted to rotate upon its axis from left to right whenactuated by the f linger 9 in its recoil movement. An axial spring iscarried by the stop 10 which returns said stop to its original position,as shown in Fig. 3, after the finger 9 has passed thereover.

In the event of a misire, the barrel continues its forward movement, thestops l1 passing through corresponding slots 12 in the bearing ring 2and carrying with them the ring 7, while the ring 6 contacts with thering 13 and the springs 4 in this way retard the further forwardmovement of the barrel.

Security against retarded firing is attained in the following manner:

The barrel, passing beyond the position at which the tenons 11 bear uponthe ring 7 and continuing to move forward to a maximum extent equal tothe stroke C, the catches 14 become engaged in the teeth formed on theprojecting part 15 of the The catches are small rectangular platesmounted for transverse sliding movement in diametrical opposite slotsformed in the member 14. In order to release the catches when necessarythere is provided a hand operated screw 19 having right and left handthreads. These threads carry nuts having projections adapted to engagethe plates or catches 14% so that upon the turning of the screw the saidcatches will be forced apart against the action of the spring 14". FItis, of course, to be understood that after the catches have becomedisengaged and removed from the projecting part 15, the screw isre-adjusted to its normal position and the spring 14e then returns thecatches to their normal or operative position.

The effort of the springs 4, which at this moment tends to return thebarrel toward the rear, is annulled by the resistance of the liquid inthe loaded-valve brake 16, the spring 17 of which isof such a tension asto oppose, at this moment, the flow of the liquid, while absolutefluidtightness is moreover insured by means of a cup leather 1S althoughthe cup leather 18 prevents leakage between the valve and the cylinderduring a movement from left to right, the liquid then passing throughthe loaded valve apertures, the cup leather does not prevent a slowflowing out of the liquid between the valve and the walls of the brakeduring the slow movement of the brake from right to left.

At the end of the retarded fire, when the shot is discharged, the barrelis forced toward the rear by the action of the springs 4, in addition toits own recoil movement. At this moment the loaded valve 16 rises to thedesired extent to permit of the recoil of the barrel, at the same timebraking it.

When this rare incident of firing occurs, the screw 19 enables thecatches 14 to be subsequently released and the barrel disconnected :fromthe fiuid controlled brake. A light spring 2() returns the brake pistonto its normal position neai the front, in a manner as hcreinbeforestated.

I claim:

1. Ordnance of the class described, comprising a gun barrel, a supportor casing for said barrel, a fixed bearing therein for slidablysupporting the barrel, an annular flange or fixed stop on the end of thebarrel, coil springs concentric with said barrel, a pair of slidablewashers mounted on the barrel for retaining the springs there between,one of said washers adapted to bear against the fixed bearing in thecasing and the other against the fixed stop on the barrel, said springscomprising a recoil mechanism when the gun is fired, and a buffer incase of mis-fire or retarded firing.

2. Ordnance of the class described, comprising a gun barrel, recoilmechanism carried by said barrel, a buffer to retard the forwardmovement of said barrel in case of retarded firing, a brake mechanism toprevent the backward movement of said barrel until after retardedfiring. said brake mechanism also acting as an auxiliary recoilmechanism after the charge is finally fired, and means for releasingsaid bake mechanism.

3. Ordnance of the class described, comprising a gun barrel combinedrecoil and buffer mechanism carried by said barrel, a brake mechanismfor automatically stopping and holding said barrel in its forwardposition in case of misfire or delayed firing, and means for releasingsaid brake mechanism.

4. Ordnance of the class described. comprising a gun barrel, a supportor casing for said barrel, a fixed hearing therein for slidablysupporting the barrel, an annular flange or fixed stop on the end of thebarrel, coil springs concentric with said barrel, a pair of slidablewashers mounted on the barrel for retaining the springs there between,one of said washers adapted to bear against the fixed bearing in thecasing and the other against the fixed stop on the barrel7 a brakemechanism carried by the casing.` a projection on the barrel, catchesalso carried by said barrel, said projection adapted to strike againstthe inner spring-retaining washer to check the forward movement of thebarrel, and the catches adapted to engage and interlock with the brakemechanism to retain the barrel in its forward position, in case ofmis-fire or delayed firing, and means for releasing said catches.

l'n testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EMILE ALEXANDRE LOUIS BOURDELLES.

